Af Missile Crew Sleeps On The Job

[Guest Tertle]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9...;show_article=1

[lloyd christmas]

Just what the AF needs.

[yerfer]

Doesn't surprise me one bit. I also get the feeling this has happened more than once.

One of our cadre was a missile guy years ago up at Minot. He despised his job more than anybody I've ever heard of. 72 hour shifts strapped into a sliding seat behind glowing buttons. Told us stories of how when your locked in, your stuck for your 72 hours. Guys would get calls from their buddies saying, Hey man, your wifes gotta Uhaul outside your house, I think she's leaving. Nothing you can do about it, your locked in till your shifts done.

Minot sounds like the place to be. Gotta drive 5 hours just to go to the nearest Olive Garden. Any takers?

[usaf36031]

Just what the AF needs.

DAMMIT!

STOP SUCKING ASSHOLES!

[Guest chaffman]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9...;show_article=1

what's really funny, to me at least, is that I just got out of the AF in large part to the staff job they tried to jam down my throat, guess where it was at, STRATCOM HQ in charge of Nuke exercise planning, testing security of nuke forces. I bet that office sucks hard now, given that AF leadership got flushed in part due to nukes.

[scoobs]

They can't watch movies or read a book?

[Bluto]

Doesn't surprise me one bit. I also get the feeling this has happened more than once.

One of our cadre was a missile guy years ago up at Minot. He despised his job more than anybody I've ever heard of. 72 hour shifts strapped into a sliding seat behind glowing buttons. Told us stories of how when your locked in, your stuck for your 72 hours. Guys would get calls from their buddies saying, Hey man, your wifes gotta Uhaul outside your house, I think she's leaving. Nothing you can do about it, your locked in till your shifts done.

Minot sounds like the place to be. Gotta drive 5 hours just to go to the nearest Olive Garden. Any takers?

That's some BS unless times have changed. For several years in the late 90s they only did 24 hour tours, not 72. In fact if the roads were bad due to wx, the helos would transport another crew out there while the cops were stuck for a week or so. The cops did 3-6 days in the field and only had 3 days off.

[Container STS]

They definitely can get a masters and SOS done in there...what a bunch of F(*CK$

[brickhistory]

What bluto said.

Although it's been many years since I pulled alert.

This sounds like a code change. The oncoming pair of crewdogs lug the new codes out, the off-going set lugs the old ones RTB. I do not know how/why there were simultaneous crews on duty in the LCC (launch control capsule), but there's supposes to be at least one dude/dudette awake at all times.

Not that I ever catnapped in the seat at 0300 while the other dude/dudette was racked out in the bunk. It's not like the thing is cruising at FL-200 at .80. You hear the klaxon, you hear when stuff that should be running stops, etc, etc.

What I don't get, is how was this discovered? If one of the crew woke up, saw the other flaked out, then no big deal, just stay the f*ck awake, and keep your mouth shut. If an 'outside' entity discovered it (cook, the FM, maintenance, etc), then the crew is screwed. If internal, it should be an informal debrief item. Especially since the crew has control of the door and the Vegas rule - "What happens behind the blast door, stays behind the blast door."

This sounds like somebody ratted somebody out.

[afnav]

As a former missile crewdog, this is nothing new. It was one of the topics that was understood and never discussed. Kind of like saying the 'F' word during a flight. Pulling missile crew was not fun 14 years ago, and I doubt it's any more fun now. I'm not unnecessarily defending them, but most people don't ask for missiles in training. I sure as hell didn't.

Back in the day, the phone could wake you up. The printer was quiet enough that you could miss something, which could be dangerous. Alarm 1 would definitely get your attention. Alarm 2 could make you shit your pants.

What is new is opening my usual (unclassified) news websites and reading about it. My theory is the current 'nuke fad' running rampant since the Minot ACM incident has every piece of dirty laundry coming out of the bin into the public spotlight. It's amazing what interpreting "Payload - checked." as "random casual glance" can do to the Defense Department. If you screw one thing up, the evaluator will start looking and probably find shit. The Air Force has been on a role for almost a year now, with more than a handful of career Q3s.

Edited July 25, 2008 by afnav

[lloyd christmas]

DAMMIT!

STOP SUCKING ASSHOLES!

Nice.

[usaf36031]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,390801,00.html

Front page Fox News.com now. Here we go again.

I give it 12 hours until the first dipshit starts suggesting that somebody else "take over" the nuke program because the AF is too incompetant.

[Bluto]

It sounds like they fell asleep topside after changeover while waiting for transportation.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,390801,00.html

[ram02]

What bluto said.

Although it's been many years since I pulled alert.

This sounds like a code change. The oncoming pair of crewdogs lug the new codes out, the off-going set lugs the old ones RTB. I do not know how/why there were simultaneous crews on duty in the LCC (launch control capsule), but there's supposes to be at least one dude/dudette awake at all times.

Not that I ever catnapped in the seat at 0300 while the other dude/dudette was racked out in the bunk. It's not like the thing is cruising at FL-200 at .80. You hear the klaxon, you hear when stuff that should be running stops, etc, etc.

What I don't get, is how was this discovered? If one of the crew woke up, saw the other flaked out, then no big deal, just stay the f*ck awake, and keep your mouth shut. If an 'outside' entity discovered it (cook, the FM, maintenance, etc), then the crew is screwed. If internal, it should be an informal debrief item. Especially since the crew has control of the door and the Vegas rule - "What happens behind the blast door, stays behind the blast door."

This sounds like somebody ratted somebody out.

Right after I pulled my last alert (Feb 2007), all the missile wings switched from a 2 crewmembers/24 hour alert schedule to a 3 crewmember/72 hour alert schedule. That's why there were three crewmembers down there. In theory, this was supposed to reduce manning, save on gas and maintenance costs and cut down the exposure of crewmembers to the "hazards" of driving. Go figure, after over a year with the 3 crewmember concept, it turned out that it in fact required more people to stay with the schedule, and recently they switched back to the 2 crewmembers/24 hour gig and gave everyone back their missile badge -- AFSPC at its finest.

As some background info, a "procedural violation" is a catch-all term used to cover any number of incidents involving ICBM code components, and can be invoked for something as small as stopping by the shopette for a snack before leaving base with code components. Some PVs are big, some are small; I'd say this one was on the smaller side. A news article like this is honestly the equivalent of someone writing an article entitled "B-52 Executes Missed Approach...Nuke Safety in Doubt."

Oh yeah, and nice shoutout in the article to the fine folks at "Patterson AFB."

Edited July 25, 2008 by ram02

[Coasta]

FIRE THE WG/CC!

FIRE THE CHIEF OF STAFF!

FIRE THE SECRETARY OF THE AF!

Oh, wait... nevermind.

Turn your key! Whatever happened to the WOPR? Weren't we replacing missileers with the WOPR? What happened to that program? Does anyone know the whereabouts of Professor Stephen Falcon?

[afnav]

what's really funny, to me at least, is that I just got out of the AF in large part to the staff job they tried to jam down my throat, guess where it was at, STRATCOM HQ in charge of Nuke exercise planning, testing security of nuke forces. I bet that office sucks hard now, given that AF leadership got flushed in part due to nukes.

The level of 'suck' is unprecedented since the fall of SAC.

The problem is that they are still trashing the people with the knowledge. The only thing that will bring me back as a civilian is a crap-ton of money.

[B52gator]

This is nothing new really and I think the media may be taking it a bit too far. There is A LOT of crap similar to this that goes on all over the missile fields. I know co-ed missile crews that hump to pass the time down there.

[F16Rooster]

I was told that someone else ratted on them. What pisses me off is that it's a classified report so some asshole leaked a mole hill of a story and the press made it a mountain.

The underlying issue in recent mistakes in the nuclear field is one of over-regulation. They keep adding more and more regs of ever-increasing complication (and stupidity) and then wonder why there are more errors. Not to mention the fact that they reverse a lot of the regs every 6 months or so. Then they put brand new 2Lts on alert and expect them not to violate any of the regs that they were probably never trained on.

Of course the underlying cause of that is this belief that every new commander must improve the system and the only way to do that is by making changes. I swear if they were in charge of eating they would redesign the fork.

The newest thing is doing alert outbriefs (brass here loves to emulate the flying world). I can only imagine what those will be like:

"Well I reclined my chair and rubbed my crotch while watching the anchors on Fox News, processed 69 exercise messages, none of which were important, answered 25 phone calls, none of which were important, fell asleep until a comm system had a fault alarm (which wasn't important) changed the channel to QVC, did the directed SERE CBT, which wasn't important but WAS a total waste of 4 hours since I live in Montana, then did a 10 minute conference call with the O-5 to get permission to drive a sedan back to base"

Just needed to rant a little since I'm currently underground on a beautiful Saturday with raw sewage backing up into the bottom of our capsule. BOHICA baby!

[Guest Gonads]

I just don't really see how this is a problem.

[M2]

They got NJP...

Cheers! M2

ICBM Crew Punished: Three members of a Minuteman III ICBM launch crew assigned to the 91st Missile Wing at Minot AFB, N.D., who fell asleep July 12 in a crew rest area while in possession of classified launch code devices have been decertified from missile operations, received written reprimands, and will forgo part of their pay for two months. CNN reported (below) on 29 Aug that the punishment was doled out to a captain and two first lieutenants under an Article 15 procedure that allows for discipline without court action, citing a base spokeswoman. Six additional officers, including two squadron commanders, have been sanctioned for their roles in the incident, and disciplinary letters are in their files, according to CNN. The Air Force disclosed the incident on July 24. The service said at the time the launch codes remained secure in locked containers whose combinations were known only to the crew and that the codes had been superseded and were unusable, so there was no risk to national security. In a related incident, the Associated Press reported Aug. 28 that the Air Force is investigating two additional officers of the wing who in 2005 allegedly took home classified components used in the Minuteman III launch control centers that they said they had destroyed. These small devices, now obsolete, were used to detect equipment tampering, the news service reported.

Air Force officers sanctioned after sleeping on job

(CNN) -- Three ballistic missile crew members have been punished for sleeping during a sensitive task, the Air Force reported Thursday.

Two first lieutenants and a captain fell asleep on July 12 while in control of a classified electronic part that contained old launch codes for intercontinental nuclear missiles. It happened during the changing out of electronic parts used to communicate with Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota.

Maj. Laurie A. Arellano, an Air Force spokeswoman, confirmed to CNN they have been "decertified from missile operations," been given written reprimands and will forgo part of their pay for two months. This comes under an Article 15 procedure that allows for discipline without court action.

She said two squadron commanders are among six other officers who were sanctioned for their roles in the incident, and disciplinary letters are in their files.

Two officers are under investigation for lying about destroying classified missile components, and another for alleged sexual misconduct, the military reported.

A crew member formerly from the 91st Missile Wing told the military last May that he and another officer formerly assigned to the wing didn't tell the truth about destroying classified launch devices in July 2005, Arellano said.

Such devices are approximately the size of a bandage and are used on equipment inside the launch control center to detect any equipment tampering, the Air Force says.

Arellano said they were expected to destroy the items and they signed documents that said the material was destroyed.

But the one officer who came forward said each man took one of the items home, Arellano said. That crew member who notified the Air Force turned over his device, but it is not known what happened to the other device, Arellano said.

The two have been reassigned to other capacities while the investigation continues. Arellano said there is no security risk since the material that was expected to be destroyed had been overridden.

Another incident involved alleged sexual contact at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. Arellano said the Air Force was told in March that a male crew member sexually assaulted a woman in December while they were on duty in a launch control area.

The man also has been reassigned during the probe and Arellano said she didn't know the duty status of the woman.

"There is no more important mission anywhere than maintaining the readiness, safety and security of our nuclear weapons. We are fully committed to demonstrating to the American people we deserve their trust to do that mission." said Gen. C. Robert Kehler, head of the Air Force Space Command, quoted in an Air Force news release.

"Each violation of our very exacting standards is fully investigated, and every person at all levels is held fully accountable for their actions."

There have been a string of Air Force mishaps and problems relating to weapons.

A truck carrying an unarmed missile booster tipped over in North Dakota in July. The vehicle, which was carrying a Minuteman III rocket booster, tipped on its side on a gravel road about 70 miles southwest of Minot Air Force Base. The crew received only minor injuries.

Last August, a B-52 bomber flew from Minot to Louisiana with the crew unaware that six nuclear-tipped missiles were onboard, and a shipment of components that arm and fuse nuclear warheads was accidentally sent to Taiwan in 2006.

An investigation prompted by those incidents led to the firing of Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley.

[Guest Boom]

That's unfortunate, however at least they had the integrity to self-report themselves.

[busdriver]

So what we're saying is that AF officers fucked up, fessed up and it was dealt with? Yawn.

[Vandal]

What is going on at Minot? First the BUFF flying with nukes, the NSI failure cause of a cop falling asleep, dumping a booster in 2008 and now this. I realize they were in secure containers in a building surrounded by cops, but really what the hell? And which one of them squealed to get all 3 in trouble?

Linky

Tuesday , July 14, 2009

BISMARCK, N.D. —

The Air Force discharged three North Dakota ballistic missile crew members who fell asleep while holding classified launch code devices, the military announced Tuesday. Officials said the codes were outdated and remained secure at all times.

The crew members were discharged last Thursday under orders from Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, said spokeswoman Laurie Arellano. They had been barred from working around nuclear weapons and classified material since the July 12, 2008 incident, she said.

The crew members were coming off a shift at a missile alert facility about 70 miles from Minot Air Force Base when they fell asleep in a secure crew rest area, Arellano said. The crew had with them code components — classified devices that allow them to communicate with missiles. Launch codes are part of the components, which were described as large, metal boxes.

One of the three crew members notified senior officers that they had fallen asleep, Arellano said.

The lapse prompted an investigation by the 91st Missile Wing, codes experts at the 20th Air Force, U.S. Strategic Command and the National Security Agency. The probe found the launch codes were outdated and had remained secure.

"A command investigation was immediately initiated and concluded there was no actual compromise of classified information," Arellano said.

The incident was one of a series of missteps involving the Minot base, which has been under scrutiny since August 2007 when a B-52 bomber mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles flew from there to Barksdale Air Force Base, La. About 65 of the 3,700 airmen at the bomber wing were sanctioned as a result of that incident.

The investigation into the sleeping crew members concluded the codes had remained in their containers, which have combination locks that can be opened only by the crew. The containers remained with the crew at all times, and the facility is guarded by armed security forces, Arellano said.

Each of the crew members — two first lieutenants and a captain from the Minot Air Force Base's 91st Missile Wing — was given an Article 15, a punishment under military law for "dereliction of duty, unsatisfactory performance and misconduct," Arellano said.

"For an officer, an Article 15 is considered to be detrimental to their career standing," she said.

In other incidents involving the Minot base, a vehicle carrying a rocket booster for an unarmed Minuteman III ballistic missile overturned July 31, 2008, while being transported from the base to a launch facility in northwestern North Dakota. The military estimated it spent about $5.6 million to recover the rocket from a ditch.

And a court-martial is pending for a Minot officer accused of stealing a missile launch control device, allegedly because he wanted a souvenir.

[nsplayr]

One of the three crew members notified senior officers that they had fallen asleep.

Call it different if you want, but there's following the rules and then there's following the rules. Yea, I know it's nuke codes and etc. but seriously...like shooting yourself in the foot only more like right in your own face...

The investigation into the sleeping crew members concluded the codes had remained in their containers, which have combination locks that can be opened only by the crew. The containers remained with the crew at all times, and the facility is guarded by armed security forces.

Dude...if you wake up after a 6-9 min. snooze, realize you're out in the middle of nowhere, in an guarded room, with the codes still in their locked boxes to which only you know the combo and you're still holding the box...idk man...call me crazy but I STFU and don't let it happen again.

[brabus]

Obviously common sense doesn't lend itself to Missile folks.